Drier



Sept. 30, 1952 I A IIQIEITER ET AL 1,

' DRIER Filed Jan. 8, 1947 4Sheets-Sheet 1 'INVENTOR. ALEXANDER L. REITER 1 y JULIUS JHAVERSTOGK ATTOIWEY Sept. 3C);

- .4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 8, 1947 INVENTOR.

ALEXANDERLRE/TER JUL/US .zmvznsroax ATTORNEY Sept. 30, 1 952 A. L. REITER ET AL DRIER 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 8, 1947 INVENTOR. I ALEXA/VDERLRE/TER JUL /us .1. HA vmsroax WXfl, ATTORNEY P 1952 A. 1.. REITER ET AL 2,611,976

"DRIER Filed Jan. 8, i947 4 she exs -sneet 4 FIG.

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' INVENTOR.

ALEXANDER L. RE/TEI? JUL IUS J HA VE RS TOOK ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 30, 1952 DRIER;

H Alexander .L. .Reiter and Iulius J. Haver'st'ock,

South Bend, Ind, assignors, "by'mesne assignments, to Avco Manufacturing Corporation,

New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application January-8, 1947;S eria1No. 720,818

Claims.

. :This invention relates to clothes dryers having :a horizontally positioned cylinder designed :to tumble clothes for drying.

It is a primary object to provide a cylinder for a tumbler dryer having an annular'front wall ofv large mesh screen or other open material capable of allowing air to move into and outof the cylinder with minimum obstruction while supporting the cylinder at its front side on a central flanged opening :by means of axplurality of generally triangular shaped bailies extending fromthe wall of the cylinder to the central flanged opening, thus producing a satisfactory structure without relying on the screened front wall for major-support.

i .It is a further object to provide a novel arrangement of the b'afiles inside the cylinder and located in the corners of the cylinder adjacent v the :end walls which will permit a greater use of a maximum diameter of the cylinder for tumbling andiallow greater portions of the clothes to be dried to fall to the outside wall of the cylinder.

. Still'anothe'r object is to provide a staggered arrangement of bafiies inside the cylinder which will produce tumbling'of the contained clothes from front to back .as well as across the cylinder thereby to expose surfaces of said clothes to drying 'air currents in said cylinder and to constantly vary'the position of said clothes in said drum. I

..The above and other objects of the invention will appear-more fully from the following more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof and wherein: 1 Figure 1' is a side view of a dryer partly in section;showing the interior -of the cylinder constructed according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a side view of the cylinder oneco'rner thereof broken away to show the construction of the battles.

Figure 3 is a section through the central 'por-,

tion'zof the cylinder on line 3-3 of Figure 2 lookingrthrough the back face of the cylindershowing the three .bafiies inthat portion of the cylinder.

' Figure 4 is a; front View of the cylindershowing thethree bafilesfand the connection of the baffles to the central flanged member and also showing the screened'front wall.

. Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of ure through one of the bafiies.

iiFigure 6 is a section on the line 6-45 of Fig- Figure5. a Figure 7 is a section on the line l-l of Figurea Y v V '2 t "Figure "8 is a side view of a 'triangularfiibaffle before assembly to the cylinder.

. Figure '9 is an end view of the 'baflle shown in axis. This cylinder is supportedat its back wall It by a single bearing I II and at'the-fronton rollers L2. The general arrangement is in accordance with co-pe'nding application Serial -No. 649,011 in the name of Arthur R. Constantine, filed February 20, 1946. In that application mechanism is disclosed for circulating air into and out of a rotatable clothes tumbling cylinder by inlet and outlet through the front wall of-a cylinder corresponding to but differing in structure from the cylinder [0 hereindescribed. I The. cylinder [0 herein disclosedis made up of {a cylindrical outer drum portion 14, a circular "back wall [5, and a front wall 13 which is constructed of large mesh screen or other open material eapable of allowing air to pass through it withlit'tl'e resistance -1-he screened front wall l3 'forn'is -rio substantial part'of the supporting structure "of the cylinder as. the cylinder is primarily su'p member l6, which serves "as a pulley 'for driving the cylinderas well as forming'a centralopeningin the cylinder for the insertion'and removal-of clothes, is supported from the-cylindrical; outer drum portion M of the cylinderby three triangular shaped baffle members shown in Figure 4 as numbers ll, 18 and 19. Each triangular shaped bafiie is formed by bending a single-squaresh eet of metal along a line which is a diagonal of the square as shown in Figures 8, 9, 1'0 and 11, thus giving the bafile substantialstrength-as we las eliminating" any rough edges or corners impositions such that might tend to wear" or fray-the clothing to be dried. Each of the-bafiies-(see baflle' I8; Figure 1) form a-right trianglelwitho'rie leg adjacent to the right angle'of the triangleextending horizontally from a point slightly short of the center of the drum portion I l to the front wall 13, the'other leg adjacent tothe right angle extends vertically from the front eage of; the drum portion M to the bent out portion offth tubular flanged member -l 6 to whichsaidb'aille -18 is connected as shown inFig ures 5 and 6, The hypotenuse of the't'riangle extendsdiagonallyacross thefrontv of the cylinder forming at-surcircumference of the cylinder l0. At the rear of the cylinder are three additional baiiles 20, 2| and 22 (Figure 3), which are identical with those in front, and which are also equally spaced about the circumference of the cylinder, but which are 60 degrees from the baflles l1, l8 and I9. In

other words, the baffles in the front drum are between bafiles in the rear of the drum in so-called staggered relationship.

To put the dryer in operation, clothes or other fabric materials are inserted in the cylinder I9 through the opening formed by the tubular flanged member 16. When the cylinder is put in rotation by suitable drive mechanism, the clothing is tumbled in the cylinder, the baffles lifting it to the top of the rotating cylinder where it is free to fall or tumble to the bottom. By this agitation the various surfaces of the clothes are exposed to the heated air currents inside the cylinder which may be supplied by structure disclosed in the aforementioned co-pending application or by other means, and the fact that the exposed surfaces are constantly changing position as the cylinder rotates is advantageous and tends to improve uniformity of drying. The staggered arrangement of the baiiles plus the fact that they taper down toward the center of the cylinder presents a maximum surface available at the circumference of the cylinder, and this space is utilized to the fullest extent when the cylinder is rotated and more of the clothes are thus enabled to fall to the outside wall of the cylinder than would be possible with baiiies extending completely across the cylinder. Since the clothes are more nearly evenly distributed around the circumference of the drum, better circulation of the heated air through the spaces between the clothing is made possible. Another beneficial effect of the staggered arrangement of the baffles is to cause the clothes to crisscross as they rotate inside the cylinder. And in addition there is utilization of a greater portion of the cylinder by permitting the clothes to tumble to a certaindegree in a lateral direction, and this crisscrossing also acts to prevent the clothes from being knotted or twisted.

While the baffles and the arrangement therefor as set forth above have been described in connection with a particular clothes drying machine, it is adaptable for use with other dryers of the same general type, and it is not intended to limit the scope of this invention by the description or otherwise than by theterms of the appended claims. 1

We claim: 7

1. In a clothes drying apparatus having a rotatable cylinder mounted on a substantially horizontal axis, said cylinder having a cylindrical member forming an outer wall of said cylinder, a circular back wall, a front wall with openings therein capable of allowing air to move into and out of said cylinder, a tubular flanged member forming a central opening in said front wall of said cylinder, a plurality of baffles substantially in the shape of a right angle triangle with one side adjacent the right angle of each baffle secured to said outer wall of-said cylinder and with the other side of said bafiie adjacent said right angle secured to said central tubular flanged member and the side forming the hypotenuse of said triangle extending longitudinally across the interior of said cylinder, and said bafiies aifording said central tubular member and said front wall of said cylinder structural support as well as serving to agitate articles to be carried in said cylinder in such a manner as to expose various parts of said articles to drying air currents inside said cylinder.

2. In a clothes drying apparatus having a rotatable cylinder mounted on a substantially horizontalflaxis, said cylinder having a cylindrical member forming an outer wall of said cylinder, a circular back wall, a front wall sufiiciently open to be capable of allowing air to move into and out of said cylinder, a tubular flanged member forming a central opening in said front wall of said cylinder, triangular shaped baffles having one'end thereof attached to said flanged member adjacent said front wall of said cylinder and the opposite end thereof attached to said outer 'wall, said baffles extending longitudinally of said cylinder and being, equally spaced about the circumferencethereof thereby to support said tubular flanged member and said front wall from said outer wall and to serve as agitators, and additional triangular shaped baffles adjacent said back wall also equally spaced about said circumference, but in staggered relationship relative to the aforesaid bailies in the front of said cylinder- 3. In a clothes drying apparatus having a rotatable cylinder mounted on a substantially horizontal axis, said cylinder having a cylindrical member forming an outer wall of said cylinder,

} a circular back wall, a frontwall with openings therein capable of allowing air to move into and out of said cylinder, a tubular flanged member forming a central opening in said front wall of said cylinder, triangular shaped bafiies adjacent said front wall of said cylinder having'one end thereof attached to said flanged member and the other end thereof attached to said outer wall of said cylinder, said bafiies equally spaced about the circumference of said cylinder thereby to support said tubular flanged member and said front wall from said outer wall of said cylinder, said baffles also extending longitudinally about half way across the interior of said cylinder to agitate clothes contained in said cylinder, and additional triangular shaped bailles adjacent said back wall of said cylinder also equally spaced about said circumference but in staggered and non-overlappingrelationship to said first mentioned baflies thereby to provide a relatively clear space centrally of said cylinder for causing contained clothes to tumble on a major diameter thereof.

4. In a clothes drying apparatus having a rdtatable cylinder mounted on a substantially horizontal axis, said cylinder having a cylindrical single substantially square sheet of material along a line running diagonally of said sheet, said bafiies thus formed extending laterally across the in-' terior of said cylinder and being devoid of rough edges along said bend, and securing means for fastening said bafiies to said outer wall and said back and front walls thereby to support said front wall and said tubular member from said outer wall and to form a diagonal lifting portion on each of said bafiles.

5. In a clothes drying apparatus having a rotatable cylinder mounted on a substantially horizontal axis, said cylinder having a cylindrical member forming an outer wall of said cylinder, a circular back wall, a front wall with perforations therein capable of allowing air to pass freely into and out of said cylinder, a tubular flanged member adapted to receive a driving belt on the major portion of the outer periphery thereof for rotation of said cylinder, said tubular flanged member also forming a central opening in the front wall of said cylinder, triangular baffies adjacent said front wall of -said cylinder having one end thereof attached to said tubular flanged member and the other end thereof attached to said outer wall of said cylinder, said bafiles ex- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,129,219 Marshall Feb. 23, 1915 2,137,376 Altorfer Nov. 22, 1938 2,262,186 Lindberg Nov. 11, 1941 2,344,135 Downes Mar. 14', 1944 2,372,790 Morgenstern Apr. 3, 1945 

